Generations
As of 2011 LTO-5 was the latest generation; further generations are planned as tabulated below.
| Generation | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attribute | LTO-1 | LTO-2 | LTO-3 | LTO-4 | LTO-5 | LTO-6 | LTO-7 | LTO-8 |
| Release Date | 2000 | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2010 | Dec. 2012 | TBA | TBA |
| Native Data Capacity | 100 GB | 200 GB | 400 GB | 800 GB | 1.5 TB | 2.5 TB | 6.4 TB | 12.8 TB |
| Max Speed (MB/s) | 20 | 40 | 80 | 120 | 140 | 160 | 315 | 472 |
| Compression Capable? | ALDC "2:1" | LTO-DC "2.5:1" | Planned "2.5:1" | |||||
| WORM Capable? | No | Yes | Planned | |||||
| Encryption Capable? | No | Yes | Planned | |||||
| Partition Capable? | No (1 allowed) | Yes (2 allowed) | Planned | |||||
| Tape Thickness | 8.9 µm | 8 µm | 6.6 µm | 6.4 µm | ||||
| Tape Length | 609 m | 680 m | 820 m | 846 m | ||||
| Tape Tracks | 384 | 512 | 704 | 896 | 1280 | 2176 | ||
| Write Elements | 8 | 16 | ||||||
| Wraps per Band | 12 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 34 | ||
| Linear Density (bits/mm) | 4880 | 7398 | 9638 | 13,250 | 15,142 | |||
| Encoding | RLL 1,7 | RLL 0,13/11; PRML | RLL 32/33; PRML | |||||
| Cartridge memory | 4 KiB | 8 KiB | 16 KiB | |||||
- LTO-1
- First commercially available in September 2000.
- Ultrium-1 specification is now Standard ECMA-319
- Initial capacity of 100 GB.
- Initial data transfer speed of 20 MB/s (maximum)
- Tape encoding is RLL 1,7
- LTO-2
- First mechanisms approved in February 2003. First media approved in March 2003.
- Doubled capacity to 200 GB.
- Increased data transfer speed to 40 MB/s (maximum).
- Switched to PRML encoding
- LTO-3
- First media approved in November 2004.
- Doubled capacity to 400 GB.
- Increased data transfer speed to 80 MB/s (maximum).
- Introduced WORM feature.
- Doubled number of write elements in head.
- LTO-4
- First mechanisms approved in April 2007. First media approved in May 2007.
- Doubled capacity again to 800 GB.
- Increased data transfer rate to 120 MB/s (maximum).
- Introduced drive level encryption feature using 256-bit AES-GCM.
- LTO-5
- Specifications announced January 19, 2010. The first LTO-5 drives appeared on the market in Q2, 2010.
- Nearly doubled capacity to 1.5 TB (1500 GB)
- Increased data transfer rate to 140 MB/s (maximum).
- Introduced partition feature that allows tape to be "split" into two separately writable areas. This feature is required by LTFS.
- LTO-6
- Licensing Specifications announced June 11, 2012.
- Increased capacity to 2.5 TB
- Increased estimated data-compression ratio due to a larger compression buffer.
- Increased cartridge memory to 16 KiB
- Increased data transfer rate to 160 MB/s (max).
Read more about this topic: Linear Tape-Open, Ultrium
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